Monday, July 19, 2010

These three lines make up the chorus of Regina Spektor's song Down the Road and Up the Hill. It just hit me that the people I think are the most lovely are also the people that are the most open. I was thinking about a girl in my church who just began courting a guy in my church. When she came to my mind, I had this amazing sense of beauty. While she is very physically attractive, her outward beauty really didn't come to mind. It was her openness. She is ready and willing to help and encourage everyone and she is frequently shares her own faults and shortcomings. She admits that she is human. These things make her most definitely lovely.

Monday, July 5, 2010

I have read and do enjoy novels from a majority of time periods (see my book list), but I tend to prefer novels written in the 1800s. After deciding that most good novels were written in the 19th century, I was determined to figure out why I felt that way. Three major factors came to mind. 19th century authors, in general, do an excellent job with character development. With aid (Katie), I can generally determine the Myers-Briggs type of each main character. This means that these characters pass puppet status and possess the depth of real people. On the contrary, older and newer novels both contain a general lack character development. Plotline provides the second point. Many modern novels only have a single plotline, but 19th century novels have two to four plotlines on a regular basis. This again increases the depth of the novel. Third, 19th century literature often includes the author's thoughts and commentary alongside the action of the story. While only so many general story templates exist, the addition of the author's thoughts and commentary provide the moral of the event and allow readers to acknowledge the application in their own lives. This point adds the final feet to the depth of 19th century novels. For example a sentence from Middlemarch says the following: "He thought it probable that Miss Brook liked him, and manners must be very marked indeed before they cease to be interpreted by preconceptions". A modern novel would have simply contained "He thought it probable that Miss Brook liked him" and ended there. In this way the plot is continued and a character's thoughts have been expressed, but the sentence looses its distinction. The moment I finished reading the sentence in Middlemarch, I first thought that the second half was excellent quote and then realized how applicable it was in my own life. If I had simply read the first half of the quote, I would not have inferred the rest on my own. I would have moved on with the story. The greatly increased depth of 19th century novels creates much deeper pools of thought than most novels from any other time period.